Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville’s bill that will make amendments to Title 38 of the U.S. Code passed through the senate Thursday.
The legislation that Tuberville introduced requires the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to modify the language used on official forms that clarify the regulations for transferring GI Bill benefits to a dependent.
According to Tuberville’s website, currently, service members may transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child as long as they have done three things.
- Completed at least six years on the date the service member requests to transfer the benefit, and
- Agreed to add four more years of service, and
- The individual receiving the benefits has enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
Tuberville’s website says that the transfer form requires service members to fill out an “end date” field, which according to Tuberville is the cause of many incorrect forms. In Tuberville’s bill, this field would be removed and instead the benefit would expire when the dependant turns 26 years old.
Along with Tuberville are Senators John Thune, Marco Rubio, Mike Braun, Tim Scott, Dianna Feinstein and Raphael Warnock.
Below is the section of Title 38 that Tuberville is looking to amend. His bill states that in paragraph one (1) “and” would be added after the semicolon. In paragraph two (2) the final “; and” would be struck from the paragraph and period would replace them. Lastly paragraph (3) would be completely struck from the bill.
(e) DESIGNATION OF TRANSFEREE.—An individual transferring
an entitlement to educational assistance under this section shall—
(1) designate the dependent or dependents to whom such
entitlement is being transferred;
(2) designate the number of months of such entitlement to
be transferred to each such dependent; and
(3) specify the period for which the transfer shall be effective for each dependent designated under paragraph (1).
Title 38 of U.S. Code. Chapter 33-Post-9/11 Educational Assistance. Section 3319
